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Are bassists looked down upon?

#41
Should also say the last two bands and the church group I play with now enjoy the fact I am a bassist and not a failed guitarist on bass. As a bassist we know how to fill in the space, hold the bottom, keep a groove and keep tempo (I have to since we do not have a drummer). A failed guitarist would play root eights more or less in time if they feel like it.
 
#42
tmart937 said:
I just beat em to the punch and always refer to myself as "just the bass player"

Fan "what do you play?"
Me "oh, I'm just the bass player."

Mainly because if the bass player has an ego the band would not fit on stage with the singer and lead guitar.
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quoted and bolded for truth :p


Guitar players are just bass players with no groove and no right hand coordination.

I get alot of
"bass is so easy, only 4 strings and all you have to do to sound good is play open e notes"
Stupid damn metal basists. (which most often than not are failed guitar players)
 
#43
The only reason I can find of why some guitar players tend to look down upon bassists (and it is a rarity where I'm from for these things to happen) is because they believe the guitar "is the ultimate instrument". This fiction is basically just what the media and our whole cultured life represents. The guitar is a great instrument but the bass is the essential part of the music and so is the drums. You don't need a guitarist to be in a band, you need a bass player and a drummer, then you can look for the piano player and then maybe a guitarist.
 
#44
I played guitar for 12 years before picking up the bass and I can say that from a guitarists perspective, bass looks deceptively simple. However, when you actually try to play, the frustration sets in. Bass is a totally different animal that requires an entirely different approach from guitar. Since starting bass 10 months ago, I've really grown to appreciate the nuances of the instrument.

Next time a guitarist gives you a hard time, hand him a bass and watch him fumble with it.
 
#47
I recently played in a musical where the guitarist was playing nothing but power chords, even over diminished etc. he made everyone sound terrible, so they surreptitiously cut his sound to near zero in the mix.

Now this guy said he could play bass if he wanted but I couldn't play guitar, so, he was better than me.

I can sight read, play all styles, have won many awards, have to knock back playing offers almost weekly, got a full scholarship to the griffith conservatorium symphony etc. etc. And this freakin' DIMBO who can barely manage a pentatonic scale automatically thinks he's "better" than me cause I play bass.
 
#52
Shoe8-bass said:
I have only ran into the dumb bass player act once or twice from an actual musician.
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Precisely. I can't consider the large guitarist egos I'm reading about on here "actual musicians." Trash talkers get reps with the local hiring hall bosses and eventually starve to death - or change occupations. Of course not many trash talkers are "actual musicians," because most actual "music" calls for at least a trio.
I'll suppose the "kids" that snub bassists would also snub violinists, cellists, trumpet players, keyboardists, etc. That's so silly and immature.
A "musician" can sight read music (bass, treble, tenor, etc.), knows theory, and moreover can APPLY all of it in practice.
 
#53
Thundersteel said:
I recently read a thread in a guitar forum, and one poster said, "Bass players are just failed guitarists."

Kind of bothered me a little bit.

Opinions?
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That's a urban legend from the '60s, sadly. The most famous "failed guitarist" turned bassist being Sir Paul McCartney. Flea started out as a trumpet player; Les Claypool never played anything but bass; Jack Bruce (Cream) started out as a classical bassist with the Scottish National Symphony. Silly that we're even discussing this!
 
#54
dreadheadbass said:
just offer to leave a band and watch the guitards jump up n persuade you not too this comes from the fact that good guitarists are 10 a penny but good bassists are like hens teeth
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LOL! SO TRUE!! I've been lucky and had great guitarists (mostly) to work with. BUT, here's a fun thing to do to a jerk-guitarist with the huge ego. Give him your bass and let him try to play it. They'll try to play it like a guitar, and there tone always sucks!! Strings buzzing on frets, sympathetic ringing of the unplayed strings, you name it! I could go on and on..... so I'll stop now. :)
 
#55
Nobody notices the bass player...until he quits playing. Then the bottom falls out, and dancers trip over themselves, and the earth tilts off its axis, and pretty soon we're all screwed.

The bass player's gig is to be silently noticed. Hey, that's life. If you don't like it, play guitar.
 

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